The Hidden Truth's
by Kristoneon
Summary: This story is set in the year 2016 when some of the truths about people we know come out. This is the first story I have written so any feedback would be appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**The Hidden Truths**

**Disclaimer: **Disclaimer: Anything you recognise belongs to Southern Star and Channel Seven. The rest (including some characters) belong to me.

**Author's Note: **This story is set in the year 2016 when some of the truths about people we know come out.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­**Chapter One**

"OK kids, are you ready for your first day at Mount Thomas High?" Patritia Webber asked her twin 15 year olds, Joanne and Brian.

"Why did we have to move anyway Mum?" Joanne complained in response.

"Yeah Mum, I finally had a good circle of friends back in Adelaide and we had to move and I can't hang out with them anymore." Brian told his mother.

"Hold on a moment there, I was posted to Mount Thomas because at the time I put the transfer in you two said that you hated living in Adelaide," Patritia told them, with a warning tone in her voice, "So, don't complain to me about wanting to stay in Adelaide."

"Ok Mum, I am ready and I think Brian is too." Joanne said to her Mum, she knew her mum was just as nervous as they were as Patritia was starting that day at the Mount Thomas Police Station as a Detective.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hi, what can we do you for today?" PJ Hasham asked the lady at the front counter of the station.

"Hi, I am Senior Detective Patritia Webber and am I right in assuming you are Senior Detective PJ Hasham?" Patritia asked PJ.

"Yes I am. Come this way and I will show you to our office. Unlike in the city where you could have your own office or department we only have one office. This is my desk so you can have the other. I mean, it's no use to me anyway," PJ said with a grin as they went into the office, "Everyone is out on patrol right now except for the Boss. If you will follow me I'll take you to her office. Senior Constable O'Rourke isn't due to start until one o'clock today, so naturally she isn't on patrol either. By the way, out here in the country, CI works with Uniforms."

Patritia and PJ walked the short way to Senior Seargent Tess Lawson's office to introduce Patritia.

"Hey Boss, this is our new Senior Detective," PJ said as he went into the office.

"Hello, I am Senior Seargent TessLawson but my members just call me Boss. You must be Patritia Webber?" asked Tess

"Hi, yeah that's me" Patritia replied with a grin, "but all my friends just call me Pat."

"Ok then, Pat," said Tess as she walked into the main area of the station. Pointing to a map, she said, "Pat, I want you to familiarise yourself with the town as soon as possible."

"Ok, I can manage to locate my house, the High School and the Police Station so far," Pat replied.

"Well, I need to go out to one of the properties on the edge of town. There have been reports of cattle going missing out there. Would you like to come with me?" PJ asked as he got off the phone.

"Sure, how hard can that be?" Pat replied.

"Ok, lets go," PJ said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"So, Pat, where are you from?" PJ and Patritia were in the CI car on the way out to the Hinksons' property.

"Uh, I lived in Melbourne, then I moved to Adelaide when I was ten. I lived there for five years and then I moved to Andamooka, in Far North South Australia, until I finished school. I moved to Sydney and went to the Police Academy there but then I met this guy and we moved back to Adelaide. The marriage didn't go so well and my kids didn't really like Adelaide so I applied for a transfer and here I am." Pat replied.

"Righto," PJ said, "I was here for ages and then I left. This station was closed down for a while but when it reopened I saw an add for a detective in Mt Thomas so I applied, probably got it because of my local knowledge, and have been here since. By the way I have only been here for a year since I came back." PJ said with a grin at the end. By this time they had arrived at the Hinksons' property and saw that there was a viscous looking dog, tied up of course.

"I once shot a dog," started Pat with a laugh, "it was my first day at a new station and we went out to this property and the dog broke its chain, so I shot it because it looked like it was going to attack my fellow constable. That was a bad first day. You see, the guy who owned the dog shot at us and shot holes in the 4WD"

"That happened here once. Our first female officer here went out to remind a man about his traffic fines he had to pay and the dog broke the chain. Mags shot the dog right between the eyes. The guy then ran off through the scrub. Both constables were from the Melbourne and hadn't lived here long." PJ spoke of Maggie and Wayne's trip to old Doherty's place were they shot Floss.

"Mags, is that your old Constable?" Pat asked.

"Yeah," PJ replied as they went to the front door. His knock was answered immediately when a young boy came to the door.

"Hello," said the young boy while his mother came walking to the door.

"Hi, I am Senior Detective Hasham and this is Senior Detective Webber. We are here about the missing cattle." PJ said to the lady.

"Oh, hi detectives, my name is Maria Hinkson, do come in." Maria Hinkson said to the detectives.

Maria told the detectives all about how her husband had gone out to feed the cattle and there was only one cow there when there was meant to be ten. She explained how they had been in town for the day when they found out about the missing cattle. PJ and Patritia went and took a look around the area and after a while went back to the station.

"This Mags person, you speak of her with a lot of admiration. Were the two of you close?" Pat asked when they were back in the car.

"Yeah, we were going to be married. Then her stupid brother went and shot her. I got there to late to save her. She, she died sixteen years ago tomorrow." PJ said as he started to tear up. The rest of the trip was in silence.

When they got back to the station, Jason Palma and Jessica Gopena were just walking out of Tess' office.

"Hey Jace, Jess, meet our new detective, Pat Webber. Pat these two misfits are Jason Palma and Jessica Gopena." PJ introduced.

"Misfits, is that what we are?" Jason said with a chuckle.

"Hi" Pat said.

"I am going to go and get the lunches, would you like to come Pat?" Tess called out as she came out of her office.

"OK then" Pat replied.

So Tess and Pat went to the Imperial Hotel to get the lunches. Tess asked Pat how her day had been and Pat replied saying that it was much different to the city.

"Hey Tess," Chris Riley, the owner of the Imperial, called out when she saw Tess.

"Hey Chris, this is Pat, our new Senior Detective, Pat this is Chris, we come here a lot after work." Tess introduced Pat.

"Hey Chris, nice to meet you," said Pat.

"Hey Pat. You know, you look familiar from somewhere, have you been here before?" Chris asked Pat

"Nah not here, I have been to Melbourne lots though." Pat replied.

"Right. Here are your lunches." Chris replied.

"Thanks Chris" said Tess as they walked towards the door.

Back at the station, Jason was trying to finish some paperwork when the screen door was opened.

"Hey Jack" He called out.

"Hey Jace, is Tess around?" Jack Lawson asked Jason.

"Nah, Tess and Pat, the new detective, went to get the lunches but they shouldn't be much longer," Jason replied.

"Lunches are here" called out Tess, as she and Pat walked through the back way, "Hello Gorgeous, what brings you down here?" she said as she saw Jack leaning against the counter.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe because you are here," Jack replied with a smile, "Nah, I have two new kids in my class and they told me their Mum is a Senior Detective. I just thought maybe you could introduce us Teresa."

"Oh, sure, Pat this is Jack, my husband. Jacko, this is Patritia Webber, our new Senior Detective. Jack is a teacher at the high school," Tess obeyed.

"I gathered that as he said two new kids in my class. Did Brian and Jo settle in well?" Pat asked Jack.

"Yeah, when they got there, everyone in the class wanted to be their friend. It was really nice," replied Jack.

"Mount Thomas Station, this is VKC. Can you switch to Channel 16 please?"

"I think your wanted," Jack said, "I might go now. Oh, and Tess, don't be late home tonight because the kids and I are making pizza."

"Ok, see you at home" replied Tess.

'Received VKC," Jess replied to the radio before changing channel, "Mount Thomas 308, this is Mount Thomas Station, go ahead Alex."


	4. Chapter 4

"So, Pat, where are you from

**Chapter Four**

"Hey Jess, I was driving past the school and there are a teacher and a student in a fight. I am just going to check it out." Alex Milton, the probationary constable replied.

"Ok Alex. Do you need any help?" Jess asked.

"Not at the moment. I will radio if it gets out of hand. Mount Thomas 308 clear." Alex replied.

"Mount Thomas Station clear." Jess ended.

"Hey Boss, there is a fight down at the school. It was something about a teacher and a student in a fight. Alex said he didn't need any back up right now but he will radio if he needs any." Jess informed Tess.

"Ok Jess, just keep me informed." Tess replied.

"We have a lead on the missing cattle Pat; a truck was seen driving along the highway for most of the afternoon yesterday. It just happens to match the description of the truck we saw out at the Hinkson's place. I think we need to bring them in for questioning." PJ said to Pat as he hung up the phone in their office.

"Ok PJ, do you want us to go and talk or one of the uniforms to bring them in?" Pat replied.

"Might get Jace to bring them in. JACE." PJ said, calling out to Jason at the same time.

"Yeah Peej?" Jason replied as he came to the door.

"Job for you mate, can you go out to the Hinkson's place and bring both Mr and Mrs Hinkson in please?" PJ asked.

"Ok, back soon." Jason replied.

As Jason left, PJ went out to talk to Tess leaving Pat in the detective office.

Pat started thinking about why, when her transfer was approved, they put her in Mt Thomas giving her kids new names. She got a shock when she realised that when they arrived at the Hinkson's' place, she remembered about the time she shot a dog. You see, Pat had amnesia and didn't know who she really was.

In the Bosses office, PJ and Tess were talking about how they thought the new detective was settling in.

"I am sure that I have seen her before. I don't know where but I know that I have somewhere and it is bugging me because I can't figure out where it was." PJ complained.

"You know, Chris said that she had seen her before too. But Pat has never been here before. Maybe you have crossed paths in Melbourne." Tess replied hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe." PJ replied, not very enthusiastically.

PJ walked out of Tess' office and back to his own office. He had only been there a few minutes when Jason walked in with the Hinkson's.

"Pat, did you want to interview Mrs Hinkson with the Boss or Jess and I will interview Mr Hinkson with Jason?" asked PJ.

"Sure, Mrs Hinkson come this way please." Pat said, "Jess, can you sit in on this please unless you want to Boss"

"Absolutely," Tess replied, "Jess, I think you might need to go down to the school and see if Alex has had any luck."

"Ok," Jess said

In the interview room, Tess, Patritia and Maria Hinkson all sat down.

"Interview commenced at 11:54am Monday February 15th, 2016. Senior Sergeant Lawson, Senior Detective Webber and Mrs Maria Hinkson present. Mrs Hinkson can you please state your name and address for the tape?" Patritia asked.

"Maria Hinkson, 110 Chartorack Road, Mount Thomas." Maria stated.

"Mrs Hinkson, where were you on the day of Sunday, the 14th of February?" Detective Webber asked.

"In St Davids, why, what are you trying to get at?" Maria replied rather quickly.

"We think that you and your husband are trying to claim insurance because your farm is going downhill. Is that right Mrs Hinkson? Is that what you were trying to do?" Detective Webber questioned.

"No, no, I had nothing to do with it. My husband came home and told me the cattle went missing. He is the one you should be asking. I don't have anything to do with it. I don't, really, I just don't." Maria stated, starting to sob.

"We have other officers asking your husband about this. We just want you to tell us everything you know about it. You say you don't have anything to do with it, what do you mean by this?" Pat asked, more gently this time.

"One of the farm hands came in this morning. They asked me if all of the cattle from one field were missing. I said that they were all missing from this one field and he told me that he had seen a truck going up and down the highway with my husband driving it. He said that it looked like sheep in it. I knew nothing about it. He doesn't own a truck, he always borrows one from Ned Garnder, from next door. I never knew anything about the truck or my husband taking sheep or anything else to do with it. My husband won't let me do anything with the farm because I am a woman and I should stay at home, do all the cooking, cleaning and whatever else a woman is meant to do. Look at you two though. You are both women and you are working in a real job. I have been going to leave him for a few years but he has always forced me to stay because he needs me to look after him. If I argue, he just hits me and locks me up. I need protection from him. Can you help me? Please?" Maria said, in tears again.

"Don't worry Mrs Hinkson, we will help you. We need to talk to your husband about these other matters but we also need to get you to a safe house. ASAP. Interview suspended at 12:30pm, for Senior Sergeant Lawson to speak to Detective Hasham." Tess said.

In PJ and Pat's office, PJ had managed to get Mr Hinkson to admit to borrowing the truck from the next door neighbour but he hadn't said anything about taking the sheep. Mr Hinkson, whose first name was Bill, was refusing to answer anymore of PJ's questions. PJ was just about to go and see how much luck Pat was having when Tess came to the door.

"Hey Peej, can I speak to you out here for a moment please?" Tess asked quietly.

"Sure, what's up Boss?" PJ replied.

"Maria has told us that a farm hand told her that he saw her husband loading sheep into a truck and taking them somewhere. He doesn't know where they went though. Oh, and PJ, Bill Hinkson has been hitting Maria and locking her up every time she tries to leave him. That has been happening for about four years." Tess told PJ.

"Okay, I will talk to him about that. Are you finding her a safe house until everything gets sorted out?"

"Yeah, I was just about to but I thought that I would tell you first. I will let you get back to interviewing him then." Tess replied before walking to her office to make some phone calls.

In PJ's office, PJ was now questioning Bill with the new information that he had acquired. Bill was still refusing to answer any questions so PJ decided to tell him about the new investigation that was starting, how he had been assaulting his wife. This shook Bill up a bit and he decided to deny all of these new allegations before he broke down and told the whole story about the sheep. It was pretty much the same as what Maria had said. Bill also told PJ and Jace that he had taken the sheep to another piece of land that he owned and that it was just for insurance.

After telling the police about the sheep the man went on to say about how he had an anger problem and didn't like the tablets they gave him to help deal with the anger. That was the reason why he lashed out at his wife all the time.

PJ checked his stories and found that he was telling the truth, he was then charged about the crimes he had committed.

Maria was put in a safe house with her son in St Davids.

"So, Peej, are you going to the pub tonight?" Pat asked PJ.

"Yeah I think I will, hey Pat, the others are having a pool competition, doubles, did you want to enter as a team?" PJ asked Pat.

"What so they can beat us? You don't know how to play pool do you Peej?" Pat remarked.

"How would you know that? I mean it is most certainly not the truth. Gosh, you call yourself a detective." PJ replied with a grin, although he was a little worried. _How does she know I can't play pool? _PJ thought to himself.

"I just have to go and see the Boss for a minute," Pat said, she was becoming worried, _How do I know all this stuff about him. I mean I even called him Peej, why would I do that? Maybe I have been here before; maybe Chrissy has seen me before. Hold on, Chrissy, her name is Chris, why did I call her Chrissy? Aagh, this is too confusing. _Pat thought to herself as she went to Tess' office and voiced her worries.

"Hey Boss," Pat said, after she had enter the room, "I need to talk to you about something kind of personal"

"Okay," Tess replied, thinking _where is this talk headed? _"What is it you need to talk about?"

"Umm, I don't know if you read this on my file, but I have amnesia, they only let me back on the force because I was apparently an excellent cop before I was in a car accident sixteen years ago. Being here today, it has made me wonder if I was from here before the accident. I am wondering if they didn't tell me the truth when I woke up from my coma. I seem to recognise Chris Riley, and PJ too, I mean I even recognised your husband Jack, and I don't know if that means that I have seen them before or if I am just losing the plot. When I went to the pub with you I seemed to recognise the place but then I don't recognise the station. I don't know where I was or what I was doing sixteen years ago but it is really confusing me now," Pat said, getting a bit teary.

"You must know Chris from somewhere because I don't recall telling you her last name but you told me her last name when you were saying the three people you remembered." Tess said with a bit of a smile. She was happy that Pat was getting her memories back.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Pat, where are you from

**Chapter Five**

Jason and Jess were sitting in the main room at the station when the screen door opened and two teenagers walked in.

"Hi, how can we help you?" Jason asked them.

"Hello, Constable Palma, we were wondering if our mum is still here? Her name is Patritia Webber," Joanne Webber asked.

"Yes she is. She is in with the Senior Sergeant at the moment. By the way, how did you know my name?" Jason asked.

"Hey Jace, it is on your name tag," Jess said with a big smile on her face.

"Grrr, I will just see if your mum can come and talk to you at the moment." Jason said before going to the office.

Jason knocked at the door and Tess came to the door but didn't open it all the way.

"Hey Boss, I was just wondering if Pat is able to come out here because her children are out here?" Jason asked.

"Actually they can come in here if they want." Tess said to Jason and then turned to Joanna and Brian, turning back into her office she said, "Hey Pat, your kids are here to see you"

"Okay, I might tell them about what I told you," Pat said wiping the tears from her face.

"Hey Mum, what's wrong?" Joanne asked Pat.

"Hi kids, Boss meet my wonderful children, Joanne and Brian. Jo, Brian meet my boss, Senior Sergeant Tess Lawson. Kids, I need to tell you something. You remember how I told you that I can't remember anything about me before our accident?"

"Yeah, of course we do Mum," Brian said.

"Well, it seems that I am not Patritia Webber at all, I am someone else. Someone who has lived in Mt Thomas before and I already knew your teacher, Jack Lawson, my fellow detective, PJ Hasham and the publican at the Imperial Hotel, Chris Riley," Pat told them, getting teary again, turning back to Tess, she said, "Hey Boss, Jack wasn't always a teacher was he?"

"No, he was a police officer but when he defended himself one time, he accidentally killed a guy and the courts didn't believe that he couldn't stop it from happening. After a few years, police down in Melbourne opened the case back up and it seemed that Jack was wrongly accussed of killing this guy and they let him out. Jack didn't think that he could go back to being a police officer though, they had cleared his police record of the time in jail as it was their mistake, so he went to teaching instead. I have worked at this station before and it was during my time that he was sent away. We were romantically involved when we worked at the station together and the when I went to another place, he ended up with a teaching position there and we settled down and got married. The old Boss didn't like interdepartmental relationships but we were kind of quiet about it."

Pat smiled, "PJ and I were like that to," and then she stopped, "I was PJ's girlfriend. Oh My Gosh, I can't believe it. I am closer to finding out who I am."

Just then the office door opened. "Sorry Boss but I was just about to come and talk to you but I accidentally overheard something about Pat once being my girlfriend. I am sorry Pat but you must have amnesia or something because I have never been out with a Patritia. I am sorry" PJ couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"PJ, that's just it. I do have amnesia. I have found out today that I am not Patritia Webber, I am someone else. Boss was just saying something and I said that. I didn't even think about what I was going to say first it just came to me. I remembered. PJ, how do you think I knew that you are not any good at pool? I knew you. And I knew Jack, but I didn't know about the reason he is no longer a police officer. I do now though. Oh PJ, who am I?" Pat asked.

Oh My Gosh," PJ said, getting tears in his eyes, "I knew I recognised you from somewhere. Oh My Gosh, Mags you have come back."

"Mags, sorry Peej but I kind of need more information." Pat/Maggie said.

"OK, here is a way of finding out temporarily, do you have a scar on you chest, just below your heart?" PJ asked hopefully.

"Yes I do, I got that in the accident, although come to think of it, maybe there was no accident. Maybe something else happened to me to give me amnesia and to give me this scar. I know one way to find out," Pat/Maggie said

"What's that?" Everyone else in the office asked together.

"Go to the hospital and find out if I can have a DNA test done. Of course, we would then have to get DNA from Mags as well. Do you know if we could find some somewhere?" Pat/Maggie asked PJ.

"I might have some of her old things at my house still but it would probably be on the system because they would have had to get her DNA when she died to identify her body." PJ said.

"Jo and Brian, did you two want to go home and get started on your homework while we go up to the hospital to get these tests done and find out if I really am Mags. PJ, you never told me Mags' full name, what is it?" Pat/Maggie asked.

"Margaret Anne Doyle, but everyone called her Maggie," PJ told Pat/Maggie happily.

Brian and Joanne went back to their house, full of curiosity about their mother, and PJ, Tess and Pat went to the hospital. Pat was getting really nervous because she would soon find out if she was or wasn't this Maggie Doyle.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

When they arrived at the hospital, Pat was really nervous. PJ went up and spoke to the nurses and then they came over to where Pat and Tess were standing.

"Hello Patritia, we understand that you need some tests done. If you will follow us into this room, where it is a bit more private, we can get started with these tests." The nurse told her.

They followed the nurse into the room and Pat told her story about how she has amnesia and how they thought she could be Maggie Doyle. The nurse agreed that it would be best to have the DNA test done and PJ went to find out about if Maggie's DNA was on the police system somewhere.

The nurse gathered data to find out if Maggie and Patritia's DNA matched, then the waiting game began.

Pat and Tess were ready to leave the hospital when PJ came running back with a huge smile on his face.

"They have Maggie's DNA on the system so they will be able to find out whether or not you are Maggie," he said, extremely excited.

"Thanks PJ, and you too Boss, you two have really helped me today, lots. I was wondering if I can repay your help by cooking dinner for you one night this week?" Pat asked.

"That would be great, what night is good for you?" PJ asked.

"How does tomorrow sound? The kids and I can cook up something for everyone. You can bring your family Boss," Pat replied.

"Sounds good," PJ and Tess both replied.

They decided that it was time to go, otherwise Tess would get in trouble with her kids for being late to dinner. Everyone said goodbye and left the hospital.

"What happened Mum?" Joanne asked as soon as Pat opened the door to their house.

"The nurse did some tests, got my DNA and now we play the waiting game," Pat said with a slight smile on her face.

"Who was that guy, PJ or something? How do you know him Mum?" Brian asked.

"PJ Hasham, a detective here at MT Thomas, he was here before, when I was more than likely here. We were in a relationship I think, I'm not too sure about everything, we'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out," Pat replied, "Now, have you two finished your homework? Because if you have, I think we should go to the pub for dinner."

"We finished our homework Mum, we only had a little bit to do because Mr Lawson was being nice today," Brian told Pat.

The family of three went to the Imperial for their dinner that night and found some of Pat's workmates there. They stayed for a while before heading off because the twins had school the next day.

The next morning when Pat arrived at work, Tess called her into her office.

"Pat, the hospital rang, they asked if you could go down there when you get a free moment. They have the results from the tests. You can go now if you want," Tess told Pat.

"OK, thanks, do you know the results?" Pat asked.

"No, but I want you to go find them out because I know that this is worrying you. It must be frustrating for you," Tess replied.

Pat went into hers and PJ's office to grab her things before going to the hospital. She didn't see PJ anywhere.

_He mustn't be in yet, _she thought as she went to her car.

When Pat got to the hospital the nurse asked her to follow him into a little room.

"Patritia, the results are..."


End file.
